


The Mage and His Familiar

by kemoiunder



Series: The Mage and His Familiar [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, It was fun to write, M/M, Mage AU, Mage!Ennoshita, Tanaka is a demon, This was for a zine, Yuu owns an apothecary, demon!Tanaka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-12
Updated: 2018-01-12
Packaged: 2019-03-03 20:22:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13348827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kemoiunder/pseuds/kemoiunder
Summary: Chikara really needs to find a solution to his constant exhaustion. He just cannot agree with his friend that sharing his power with a demon will help matters, but what could go wrong?I did this for a Ennoshita/Tanaka fanzine, and it was really fun to write! I'm also thinking about making this a series; perhaps.





	The Mage and His Familiar

Chikara was tired, it had been too long since he last slept. He just had too many orders to fill, too many potions to make and too many medicines to concoct. Like he thought before, it had been too long since he had last slept and really needed a break. He started to put his tools away for at least a little while, his supplies of different herbs were getting low so he would have to go to the apothecary run by one of his childhood friends. 

He really needed to sleep, because he apparently lost time in the instant it took him to travel from his two bedroom flat to the shop two streets down. He didn’t even realize his friend was asking him if something was wrong until Yuu shook Chikara’s shoulder.

“Sorry, Yuu. I’m just very tired.”

If anything could be said about Nishinoya Yuu, it was that he supported his friends, and his look of concern for Chikara was something fierce. He looked like he was in deep thought though, which was never a good sign.

“You know, I’ve heard that having a familiar reduces the amount of magic you use when making your orders.”

Chikara could feel his face screwing up. He had also heard that familiars were very hard to get along with, and if one gave them their full name they could curse the person and would be able to kill them for their magic essence. 

“Don’t look at me like that, Chikara. You need to do something, because eventually you’ll just die of exhaustion. I’m worried about you.”

Chikara sighed. Yes, it was true that he couldn’t go on much longer like this. He promised his friend that he would keep it in mind as he bought his much-needed supplies. 

As he made his way back to his flat though, he began to really think about it. If he had a familiar, it would ease the burden on his magic since the magical strain would be shared between the two of them. He would be able to take on more orders if he did that, but first he had to find a demon who would go along with his demands, and not curse him for his troubles. Just thinking about it made a shudder go through him. He definitely didn’t want to be cursed, he had enough to deal with as it was.

Seeing the list of orders he needed to complete, Chikara let out a sigh. He would never get these done if he didn’t get sleep, or share his magic. Why did he have to take on so many orders anyways? It wasn’t like he had to pay a whole lot of rent for his flat, but he guessed it was because of who he was. He always wanted to help other people, it was why he dedicated his magic to helping others instead of using it for himself. He made healing medicines for people who really needed it, and if he didn’t make it, who else would? There were other mages of course, but Chikara always wanted to do the most that he could with his abilities, even if they sometimes ran him ragged. Maybe getting a familiar wouldn’t be so bad, but he definitely needed to find one that would share his ambitions. It wouldn’t do to form a familiar bond but then spend the rest of his time after that trying to keep them in line. It would be like highschool all over again with Yuu.

Now that he seemed to have made up his mind, Chikara started to look for a summoning book, he knew he had one lying around somewhere. Maybe under the piles of healing balms and paste? Nope, just more leaflets for different medicines. In his kitchen? No, that just had the dirty dishes that he had left piling up from a week ago. He had searched most of his flat until he came across a stack of books in the far corner of his bedroom. This had to be it! He started to get discouraged as the first four in the stack were for different pastes, including some to vanquish dark spirits, he might have need of those in the future. But what was the last book in the stack; there it was! Summoning for both beginner and advanced mages! Chikara felt himself grinning despite everything, as he flipped through the text. 

After a bit of flipping through, he thought he found a good enough incantation that would summon a strong enough demon to share his magic with. Chikara wasn’t a very powerful mage, but he wasn’t any slouch either, so not just any demon would be able to share his magic with him. The spell itself didn’t look too difficult, he would just have to wait until nightfall to cast it. He had a couple of hours before then, so he made himself busy cleaning up the messes he had made while in the zone with his orders. He hadn’t realized just how dirty it was, including the robes he had worn outside; no wonder Yuu had been concerned. 

Nightfall came quickly, and Chikara was already in the middle of getting everything he would need for the spell. They were easy enough ingredients, Chikara already had the ingredients on hand, and a summoning circle, of course; but he followed along with the drawing in his book, so that was done fairly quickly. Looking up from his work, Chikara realized that in his haste to complete the summoning circle as quickly as possible, he didn’t realize that it took up the entirety of this living room. He had read in the book, that if the demon summoned was too big for the circle, Chikara’s own magic would basically shrink them down to fit the size of the said circle. At least he didn’t have to worry about a demon destroying his apartment complex, that wouldn’t be very fun to explain to an angry landlord. 

Without any further ado, he was completing the incantation to summon a demon into this realm from their own. Blue light coursed through the room, along with an orange glow that seemed to come from nowhere but also everywhere at the same time; and Chikara came face to face with what he summoned.

Chikara had never seen a more beautiful creature. Orange and black in color, the demon looked more like a Chinese dragon than anything, his whiskers whipping out and about, almost as if they were trying to look intimidating. But his eyes, that was what the mage felt like he could get lost in, iridescent orbs of gold stared back at Chikara and he felt like his soul was being scrutinized intimately. 

“Oi! Who are you?”

His deep voice, almost sounding offended, made Chikara observe the demon more closely. 

“My name is Chikara. I was hoping you would be interested in becoming my familiar.”

Those eyes narrowed, its tail whipping back and forth, reminding Chikara of a cat. 

“And why should I do that?”

That made Chikara pause. He didn’t really have a specific reason for asking this particular demon if they had wanted to be his familiar, they were simply the first demon they were able to bring across to his world, and he told the demon this. The dragon demon let out a throaty chuckle, as if the answer was obvious, but they hadn’t really wanted to believe it.

“Also, sharing our magic would let us do more with it,” Chikara added.

Chikara let the demon see the determination in his eyes as he said that, like he felt he wasn’t already doing enough as it was. This would just mean more and more sleepless nights in order to fulfill more and more orders that he eventually probably die from. But that was to be thought about at a different time and day.

“It’s a shame really,” the demon drawled, “I almost thought you wanted to use me for evil.”

Chikara snorted at that, the mage clearly wasn’t an evil entity. But that just made him wonder, was this demon dangerous? He wouldn’t be surprised by this information, many demons used their powers for evil. If this was the case, Chikara would have no part of it.

“I do not use my magic for evil. It is a mockery of what magic is and what it stands for, and if you delve in the darkness I want no part of it or you.”

An intense look appeared in the eyes of the demon throughout Chikara’s statement, its nostrils flaring slightly. Then, to his surprise, the demon threw its head back and laughed. It was unlike the chuckle the demon had let out before, it sounded like the first time in a while that it was heard. 

“You have a fiery spirit! I like it! Fine, let us create a bond to share our magic.”

With those words, ethereal strands of light connected the two magical beings. Bright blue and orange light began to shine, Chikara noting that the blue was his and the orange was the demon’s own. He was a bit shocked, he thought the demon would have been angered by his outburst, but apparently those were the right words to say. He also was sure that there were different steps for the process to go along, but he could already feel a bond forming between him and the demon. Not even half a minute had passed before a burning sensation startled Chikara, and when he raised his right hand with a hiss, he saw an intricate Celtic pattern branded on the top of his hand going all the way up to his shoulder. He looked up and saw that the same pattern was on the demon’s left clawed arm, where they were clutching a sphere. Was that a giant pearl? He would have to ask about it at a later time.

“It’s that easy? I thought I would have to find a spell to bind us together.”

Another chuckle let out of the dragon, “Not when it is I who is being bound.”

Now this made Chikara wonder just what he was getting himself into.

“Why? Who are you?”

Another chuckle resounded from the demon, apparently this was a common occurrence with them, for all the chuckling they were doing. He also wasn’t sure of the demon’s gender, if they had one, so he did not want to assume just because the demon had a masculine voice that they were masculine. Chikara sort of hoped their name would put that curiosity to rest.

“I am he who is called Ryuunosuke. You may address me as such.”

That definitely answered Chikara’s question, the demon was male. Ryuunosuke was a mouthful though. He might try to shorten it without realizing when he was in the zone with his orders, but that would come on its own time. He did not have time to ponder that either, because at that moment the demon stepped outside of the circle, or maybe the better word was floated, he was after all a Chinese dragon that had been floating within the summoning circle.

It was during this time Ryuunosuke was engulfed in another orange light, lights seemed to be the theme of the night, and in the dragon’s place there was a man instead. He had a few dragon-like qualities; such as his teeth looking more like fangs and his fingers ended in talons, and that giant pearl was still there, but the demon looked more like a monk now than anything, with his shaved head and intense expression. His eyes stayed the same, Chikara noticed, the golden orbs still startling as ever. 

“You have a human form?”

Chikara wasn’t exactly surprised, he knew demons could switch in between their forms with ease, but it didn’t help that he had never seen a demon do it before; he was more curious than anything. 

Ryuunosuke chuckled again, “Of course. You do not think I go about my business outside of the demon realm as a giant dragon, do you?”

The mage’s face grew a little hot at the thought of the demon going to the store, but it made him snort. 

“Yeah. You’re right. So, I have questions.”

They talked about many things. Chikara found that he and Ryuu, which was what he ended up shortening his long name to, shared the same ideals. They both wanted to help others. He didn’t learn exactly how far up the ranks his demon was, but he learned that Ryuu was pretty important in the demon realm, and was a bit miffed that Chikara had never heard of him, not even his name. Chikara merely shrugged. He didn’t have time to be learning the names of every important demon there was, he had orders to make. 

Speaking of orders, between the two of them, they both managed to complete not only the list that Chikara had, but they ended up filling up on his inventory as well. He couldn’t remember the last time he had so much inventory of product, he probably wouldn’t need to make an actual order for a while, unless it was something custom Chikara did not usually make.

Once the cleanup was done, Chikara sighed. He felt like he could finally take a nap without having to worry about when he needed to wake up next.

“I have no idea how you manage all of that by yourself. It put a strain on both of our combined magics just to complete that list of yours.”

Ryuu’s complaint wasn’t lost on Chikara, but now he was at a loss. He didn’t know if the bond between them required Ryuu to stay in the flat with the mage. If so, he would need to clean out the room he currently used as storage, but at this point he might as well find a different flat with three bedrooms instead to save the hassle. 

In any case, Chikara felt like he needed to go back to see Yuu, just to let him know that he had taken his advice. Ryuu observed the mage putting his coat on, but he didn’t get up from where he had kicked back on the sofa after they finished cleaning up.

“Shouldn’t you be taking a nap or something?”

Chikara turned to observe the concerned expression on the demon’s face, clearly he didn’t know Chikara at all. He fancied himself going without sleep until he literally passed out. It was an awful way to live, he didn’t need to be told, but it was just how he always had been since he was a kid.

“Sleep is for the weak.”

Ryuu looked at the mage like he had sprouted a second head.

“No matter what you say, a magical being must be well-rested. How did you even summon me? You’re exhausted.”

Chikara scoffed at the comment. He was clearly a very powerful mage that thrived on pettiness alone.

“I will not take ‘no’ for an answer. Go to sleep.”

At that, the demon got up from the couch and began unbuttoning Chikara’s coat, the mage sputtering slightly as his coat was forcibly removed from his person.

“Oi! I don’t need you manhandling me!”

A sneer appeared on the demon’s face.

“Well, you clearly aren’t taking care of yourself so I have to be the one to do it. Go. To. Sleep.”

Chikara’s mouth twisted into a frown, a scowl on his face as he was gently maneuvered until the two of them entered the mage’s bedroom. Logically, Ryuu’s explanation made sense. He abhorred sleeping at the best of times, and almost cursed a person’s reliability on things like rest at the worst of times.

“Just for a few hours.”

He tried bargaining, like a child. Chikara mentally scolded himself for it, but he felt like he could trust Ryuu not to judge him for it.

“I will wake you in a few hours, yes.”

The mage hadn’t even bothered changing into sleepwear, simply fell onto his bed. He was just about passed out the moment his head hit his pillow, but not without observing his demon watching him with a softened gaze, which made Chikara’s chest feel funny, for the briefest of moments that he was awake.

Chikara woke gradually. He felt like a long time had passed, but clearly not if his demon had not woken him up, since he had promised to definitely wake him in a couple of hours. Feeling kind of grimy from sleeping in the same clothes he had worn for a while, he changed into a new set before emerging from his bedroom. The first thing that crossed Chikara’s mind was that his flat looked a lot cleaner than when he had fallen asleep.

“Ah, so the Sleeping Beauty has finally woken up. Cheers.”

Chikara blushed slightly at the title, but he could only blame it on the fact that his demon had such a deep voice. He had almost forgotten that he had bonded himself to a demon. Just how long had he been sleeping?

“I took the liberty of taking the empty room, I hope you do not mind.”

The mage waved his hand, he had cleared the room for the demon anyways. 

“How long was I asleep? You didn’t wake me.”

Ryuu had the courtesy to appear a bit sheepish at his question. 

“I decided that you needed to sleep as long as your body required. I didn’t expect you to be asleep for nearly twenty hours.”

Chikara’s mind whirled. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept that long! 

“It’s clearly done you a world of good, you look a lot better.”

Once again the mage flushed at the words of his demon. Maybe they were affecting him because he was so well-rested. In any case, he remembered he had wanted to see Yuu again, to let the apothecary owner that he hadn’t died or anything. Chikara looked around for the coat that Ryuu had taken off of him the previous night, finding it hung up on the coat rack he almost never used. He shrugged it back on as he turned to where the demon had been lounging once again on the couch.

“Whatever, I need to go to the apothecary, let’s go.”

The demon snorted at the command, as if he wasn’t used to taking orders from the likes of mages, but he got up all the same. With a wave of his hand, the demon conjured a coat, which was a pretty neat trick. Now that he wasn’t losing time, he got to experience the walk to Yuu’s shop unhindered, and he realized it was very late at night, or very early morning, whichever. Apparently, it was very early morning, because as they walked up to the shop, Yuu was just flipping the sign to ‘open’, and Chikara was beginning to wonder if he should take more naps before making the trip in the future. 

“Chikara! I see you don’t look dead this time!”

Yuu had clearly not noticed the bald dragon-esque man standing beside Chikara, but when he did his eyes practically bugged out of his skull.

“Ha! You took my advice! You bonded with a familiar!”

Chikara waved at him to keep his voice down. Yuu had never mastered the art of speaking in low tones, ever since they were younger he was loud. His new familiar however, did not waste any time, he bowed graciously.

“I am he who is called Ryuunosuke, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Chikara was definitely mistaken, Yuu’s eyes were even wider than before. 

“You mean THE Ryuunosuke? One of the five generals to the Demon King, Ryuunosuke?”

The mage could see Ryuu’s eyeing him from the side, smirking slightly, since clearly Yuu had heard of him before, unlike Chikara.

“The one and only.”

Now Yuu was asking Chikara questions a mile a minute - how did he manage to summon one of the demon generals? How did he get him to agree to bond with a mage that only makes healing medicines? How could Chikara not have known who the demon was? Was his demon form badass? So many questions flitted from the shorter boy’s mouth, Chikara could hardly register them all. But he was only looking at Ryuu now, why didn’t the demon tell him that he was a demon general? Would it hinder his work to be bonded to a mage?

“I am sure you have many questions yourself, Chikara. We can answer them together later.”

And he would definitely get those answers. They had a long journey ahead of them; more likely filled with their share of spats, but if Ryuu is like Chikara, then they would be able to work through them. He was even looking forward to it.


End file.
